There are a number of organizations throughout central New York working to make the holidays a little brighter for people who may not have the resources they need for themselves and their families.
Nonprofit organizations like the Rome Rescue Mission depend on the generosity of the community to help provide food, clothing and holiday presents to those in need. On a recent weekday afternoon, the Rome Rescue Mission was chock full of recent donations, everything from food to toys as Christmas music played in the background.
The Mission staff has been busy packing up holiday meals-to-go which will be distributed at various locations in Rome as well as getting ready to provide a traditional Christmas dinner for those who want to eat at the Mission on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.
Executive Director of the Rome Rescue Mission, Lisa Patierno, said that the organization provides about 200 meals a day throughout the year, and she said they have seen an increase in the number of working families needing help. Patierno tells those clients there’s no need to be embarrassed about asking for that assistance.
“We had somebody here last week that was asking that, and I said, there is no one in this world that I could imagine (who) hasn't received assistance in some way, shape or form, no matter who,” said Patierno. “Everyone needs some assistance.”
Kayla Greene is one of the staffers at the Rome Rescue Mission, and she began working there after needing help for herself several years ago. Greene said those kinds of circumstances can happen to anyone.
“We're all one or two paychecks away from homelessness, one or two paychecks away from starving or being hungry or alone,” Greene said. “So this is a safe haven for those people. I have been there, and everybody should be a little more empathetic.”
MaryJo Timpano is a member of the board of directors at the Mission, and she and others at that nonprofit see the need for assistance increasing in recent months. But Timpano said that’s the kind of situation Mission staff are ready for, even without the recent challenges of changes in the SNAP food stamp program.
“We operate really in a way that allows us to be responsive right away,” Timpano said. “So we're not waiting for the food stamp crisis to occur. We are preemptively prepared for such things, especially during this time of the year.”
Donations are accepted at the Rome Rescue Mission at 413 East Dominick Street from Monday through Friday from 9am to 6pm, and weekends from 9am to 2pm.
